At 12:06 AM 5/31/98 -0400, James McElroy wrote:
>My father-in-law passed away earlier this year, leaving the care of his
>beautiful '66 MGB to me. He loved this car, and as a sign of respect to
>him (and to the car), I want to take care of it as well as he would have.
>
>This is my first foray in LBCs, so I've been snooping on the list, reading
>Moss catalogs [that's the only LBC literature I could find around the
>house], and perusing the team.net website, but I feel like I've only
>scratched the surface of understanding this wonderful automobile.
>
>This car served as daily transportation for my mother-in-law while she was
>in college (she even raced the car with her father a few times until tires
>costs became prohibitive). After being passed down through the family, the
>car (by then in pretty rough shape) was stored in a barn for a decade or
>two until my mother-in-law could have it restored several years ago as a
>gift for her husband (her father, who owns several LBCs himself, did most
>of the mechanical work with the help of one of his grandsons).
>
>With a history like that I don't feel like I even deserve to drive the car,
>but I know if I don't the car will just sit unused in the garage (for some
>reason my mother-in-law hasn't driven the car much since it's been
>restored. I think her tastes have changed to BBTs (big British trucks); she
>lusts after a Range Rover).
>
>Fortunately the car is in terrific shape (thanks to the restoration), so it
>only needs some minor work (an oil leak and a fuel gauge are all that I
>know of).
>But I have no idea what kind of maintenance it needs. (I do a lot of work
>on our own cars, but all of my experience is with fuel injected German and
>Japanese cars of more recent vintage). Are there any good books covering
>MGB maintenance and repairs?
>
>The MG also needs new batteries. I saw a few posts and a note on the web
>site recommending replacing the dual 6 volt batteries with a single 12
>volt, but can that be done with a positive ground system? Can I fit a 12
>volt battery in the space for one of the 6 volts?
>
>In either case, can anyone recommend a good place to buy a battery? Of the
>6 local auto stores I called today, only 1 had the dual 6 volt batteries
>(at about $75 each). That seems high to me, but then again you don't see
>many 6 volt automotive batteries these days.
>
>Any suggestions are more than welcome!
>
>Thanks!
>James
>____________________________
>James McElroy
>mailto:jmcelroy@alum.wpi.edu
>
James, welcome.
Go with the 12volt. Measure the battery box, and go to Sears. They have one
( I think group 26) that will fit. To keep positive ground, simply connect
the positive terminal to the ground wire. Make sure that the old set up was
not changed. The old dual batteries, should have one of them running from
plus to the ground wire ( the other terminal (minus) of that battery to the
plus of the second battery.
Please clean all ground connections, ie the battery ground to the body in
the rear, and the ground wires to the engine in the front. They must be
clean at every point, no rust or oxide. The cure for 99% of MG electrical
problems is clean ground connections every place. Good luck
Mike
|